Right after
Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs was released, Walt
Disney and his creative team
had nowhere to go but up,
and boy did they go up!
Pinocchio nearly perfected
every asset presented in
Snow White; from the
character animation to the
way the story is presented.
Even if the movie didn't
originally set box office
records when it first
premiered, it has become one
of the most iconic animated
movies ever made, constantly
appearing in many �Best of�
lists. It even defines the
Disney company as a whole,
and has created several
attractions based on it.
While Pinocchio at first
doesn't seem to be the kind
of movie that merits a video
game based on it, the wild
popularity of the film with
children and adults did make
it ripe for a solid video
game adaptation.

Developed by
Disney Interactive in
conjunction with Virgin
Entertainment (which
developed other Disney
titles like Mickey Mania and
the Genesis version of
Aladdin), Pinocchio is a
platformer title where
players go through some of
the major events of the film
playing as either Pinocchio
or Jiminy Cricket on a
special stage. This means
that you will be
experiencing alongside
Pinocchio the thrills of
discovering life for the
first time, becoming an
involuntary star in
Stromboli's puppet show and
even escaping the wrath of
Monstro the whale. The film,
despite its theme of dreams,
wishes and believing in the
impossible, was a very
action heavy story, with
many scenes being grand in
scale. So it lends itself
very well towards a video
game adaptation.

Pinocchio
came in the mid-to-late 90s,
when licensed platformers
were very common place (many
of them were Disney themed
as a matter of fact), which
means that one of the cons
the game faces is that it
really doesn't set itself
apart from the other efforts
of the era. It is perfectly
happy just giving us the
basics is a very pretty
manner. It didn't help that
the game was released when
the 16-bit era of gaming was
slowly dying off just as the
next era was making its way
into the mainstream, so that
made Pinocchio an almost
forgotten title.

That's not
to say that the game is bad,
though. As basic as the game
may seem to the average
player, it does do a good
job of bringing the movie to
video game form. The
difficulty setting (which
can be altered to a player's
liking) is fine enough that
young fans of the movie can
come in and play it to their
hearts content.

Another
reason the game is a solid
effort is because a lot of
thought went into presenting
Pinocchio as a video game
title. Like I mentioned
earlier, Pinocchio is a
looker, featuring some of
the best animation early
Disney has ever produced.
The character sprites may
not always reach the same
high caliber presented in
hand drawn video games like
Aladdin for the Genesis and
Mickey Mania, but they are
very colorful and move very
smoothly, giving it a lush
hand drawn look to it all.
The levels closely resembled
the hand painted backgrounds
of the film, and the big
action pieces look great.
Not only that, we get little
details like the title card
of the movie, as well as the
book seen in the opening
scene and other stills
ripped right out of the
film. I've spoken before
about how important
authenticity is in licensed
video games, and Pinocchio
does a great job at
respecting the film's legacy
by accurately depicting it
in terms of graphics.

Music is
also a great asset in
Pinocchio, both the film and
the video game adaptation.
When you wish upon a star
not only has become an
anthem for all things
Disney, it has been
ingrained into our popular
culture, perfectly capturing
the abstract nature of faith
and believing in our own
dreams. The video game
proudly give us a beautiful
16-bit rendition of the
tune. Other tunes that can
be heard include An
Actor's Life for Me and
I've Got No Strings on
Me. The original tunes
also capture Pinocchio's
plucky musical nature and do
a good job of providing
players with a lot of
atmosphere to absorb.

Pinocchio
the video game doesn't
exactly break new ground in
terms of licensed games and
video game adaptations, but
it certainly is a very
pretty and solid title that
uses the film's assets in
the best manner possible. It
is just as simple as wishing
upon a star...